Murphey the Jeweler Blog

One thousand lots from the estate of celebrated author Jackie Collins — including a 6.04-carat pear-shaped diamond — will hit the auction block on May 17 and 18 at Bonhams in Los Angeles.

The star and socialite, who wrote 31 novels which together sold more than 500 million copies in 40 countries worldwide, passed away in September of 2015 at the age of 77. During her stellar 47-year writing career, Collins amassed an impressive collection of fine art, sculpture and jewelry.

Bonhams is calling the two-day auction "Jackie Collins: A Life in Chapters." The lots are estimated to be worth in excess of $3 million in total.

The jewelry reflects the style and glamor of the British-born author, who called Beverly Hills her home since 1992.

• The top item in the jewelry category is a 6.04-carat pear-shaped diamond ring. Carrying a pre-sale estimate of $100,000 to $150,000, the platinum ring features tapered baguettes on the shoulders.

• A second head-turner is this geometric platinum necklace set with diamonds and emeralds weighing a combined 44 carats. The pre-sale estimate is $40,000 to $60,000.

• A collection of three diamond-and-platinum Flamme brooches are expected to sell for $15,000 to $20,000. Two of the brooches are set with round brilliant and baguette-cut diamonds, while the third is set solely with baguette diamonds. The total weight of the three pieces is 26.70 carats.

• Verdant cabochon emeralds are the focal point of these ear clips, which boast a diamond total weight of 17.65 carats. The clips carry a pre-sale estimate of $8,000 to $12,000.

"Our mother never did anything in small measures!" noted Collins' daughters — Tracy, Rory and Tiffany — in a joint statement. "She was passionate about collecting, and spent many decades selecting paintings, statuettes and jewelry which brought her joy and creative inspiration."

The daughters said that in the early 1990s their parents designed and built a breathtaking contemporary home in Beverly Hills, which became the custom designed backdrop to their mother's collections.

"She had a unique and extraordinary eye for a design and aesthetic that combined elegance and glamor with humor and warmth," they said.

Bonham's announced that a portion of all proceeds from the auction will be donated to support the empowerment of young women in the arts and education.

Two buddies with a passion for treasure hunting unearthed four 2,500-year-old golden torcs within the parish of Leekfrith (pop. 363) in the English countryside.

The items, which include three neck torcs and one bracelet weighing between 1 ounce and 8 ounces, may date back to 400 BC and represent the earliest Iron Age gold work ever discovered in Britain. An antiquities expert called the Iron Age torcs a "unique find of international importance."

British metal detectorist buddies Joe Kania and Mark Hambleton found their bounty in a field about 30 miles southeast of Manchester. Each item was buried just under the surface about one meter apart from the next.

Hambleton explained to the BBC that he and Kania were searching a field back in December, but had come up empty. Hambleton was just about to quit for the day when his friend approached with a golden surprise.

"He pulled this big torc out of his pocket and dangled it in front of me," Hambleton said. "When I'd gotten some air back into my lungs, my head had cleared and my legs had stopped wobbling, I said, 'Do you realize what you've found there?'"

The discovery of the large torc led the treasure hunters to the three other items, each of which was determined to be crafted of at least 80% gold.

"The torcs were probably worn by wealthy and powerful women, perhaps people from the [European] continent who had married into the local community," surmised Dr. Julia Farley, the British Museum's curator of British and European Iron Age collections. "Piecing together how these objects came to be carefully buried in a Staffordshire field will give us an invaluable insight into life in Iron Age Britain."

The fabulous Leekfrith Iron Age torcs will be exhibited for the next three weeks at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke, a short distance from where they were discovered.

“This amazing find of gold torcs in the north of the county is quite simply magical, and we look forward to sharing the secrets and story they hold in the years to come,” said Staffordshire County Council Leader Philip Atkins in a statement.

The UK's Treasure Act of 1996 states that finders have a legal obligation to report all potential treasure to the local coroner in the district where the find was made. The Act allows a national or local museum to acquire the treasure for the public's benefit and pay a reward, which is usually shared equally between the finder and landowner. The value of the four golden torcs will be determined by experts at the British Museum.

NASA’s Landsat 8 satellite spotted a glistening diamond-shaped ice jewel while orbiting above the cold, 600-mile northern region of the Caspian Sea — the world's largest inland body of water — stretching from Kazakhstan to Iran. The image of Ice Diamond was captured on February 4 by NASA's Operational Land Imager (OLI), a high-tech camera attached to the satellite.

IFL Science reported that the Ice Diamond likely had been chipped off from the larger sea ice and then became grounded to the seabed. Northern areas are more prone to freezing in wintertime than southern parts. NASA noted that the wind is pushing thinner darker pieces of ice called "nilas" around the diamond, leaving a shadow of open water where currents can move around it.

According to NASA's Earth Observatory, which published the image, the northern part of the Caspian Sea is less saline and shallower than the southern part. Lower temperatures and higher latitudes make it more prone to freezing than the southern areas.

NASA noted to Daily Mail that the ice captured in the images from OLI in February is all known as first-year ice and will not make it through the summer. The images from warmer months often reveal a series of "scour marks" left behind on the seafloor by the jagged edges of the grounded ice that stuck around all winter.

“This ‘island’ of white ice is most probably a piece that detached from the ice field,” explained Alexei Kouraev, a scientist at the Laboratory of Geophysical and Oceanographic Studies in France who spoke to the NASA Earth Observatory. “With the advance of spring and rising temperatures, ice on the Caspian will soon disappear. All of the ice is first-year ice, meaning that it should not survive the summer.”

Next to the Ice Diamond “hummocking” can be seen — weak, thin ice formed over the sea and then broken up by currents, waves and wind. When the pieces pile up on top of each other and then get locked back into an ice floe, they form hummocks that extend down several meters.

NASA also released an image of the area with thermal data, noting that the image will turn more orange as the weather warms. The sparkling diamond-shaped ice jewel will then disappear back into the sea forever.

Here's your chance to own a piece of Americana. The 4.64-carat D-flawless "Esperanza" diamond, which was found by Bobbie Oskarson in 2015 at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Ark., will be offered for sale at Skinner's fine jewelry auction in Boston on March 21.

Esperanza carries a pre-sale estimate of $100,000 to $150,000 and is the top lot in a show that will include more than 500 items.

What's amazing about "Esperanza" is that it was picked out of the soil by Oskarson, a visiting Coloradan, who paid a mere $8 to dig for riches at the only diamond site in the world where amateur prospectors of all ages get to keep what they find. She made her spectacular discovery within 20 minutes of entering "The Pig Pen," the 37 1/2-acre plowed field that is actually the eroded surface of the eighth-largest, diamond-bearing deposit in the world.

Originally 8.52 carats in weight and the shape of an icicle, “Esperanza” was transformed by Master Diamond Cutter Mike Botha into a unique 4.64-carat teardrop “triolette.” Botha’s 147-facet triolette is a shape of his own design. It resembles a teardrop and merges the elements of both emerald and trapezoid shapes. The painstaking cutting and polishing process took 130 hours.

"Esperanza" (meaning "hope" in Spanish) was then set vertically in a platinum mounting designed by jeweler Ian Douglas of The Inspired Collection, Wellington, New Zealand. The unique mounting is intended to emphasize the triolette shape.

The fifth-largest diamond ever found at Crater of Diamonds State Park, the "Esperanza" is, by far, the most perfect in terms of color and clarity. It even has its own Facebook page with more than 1,000 followers.

"Most Precious" is one of the world's most beautiful examples of March's official birthstone. Presented as part of the National Gem and Mineral collection at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., the rectangular-cut aquamarine from Brazil weighs a startling 1,000-carats and evokes the clear blue hue of a tranquil sea.

A gift of Dr. W. Langer and Evyan Perfumes, Inc., "Most Precious" takes its name from the perfume that was launched by the design house of Evyan in 1958.

The colossal aquamarine has some handsome company in the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals. Among her neighbors are a pantheon of world-famous gems, including the Hope Diamond, Logan Sapphire and Rosser Reeves Star Ruby.

Aquamarine is the sea-blue variety of the mineral beryl, whose family members include emerald (intense green) and morganite (pink to orange-pink). Aquamarines can range in color from light blue to pure blue to shades of greenish-blue. The variations in blue color are dependent on trace amounts of iron in the gemstone's chemical composition.

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you great songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger sings about finding the perfect love in the group's 2008 hit, "Gotta Be Somebody."

In Kroeger's view, we all dream about the love of a lifetime, the perfect soulmate. The challenge is having the patience and fortitude to keep searching for that person — no matter how long it takes.

He sings, "You can't give up / When you're lookin' for a diamond in the rough / Because you never know when it shows up / Make sure you're holdin' on / 'Cause it could be the one, the one you're waiting on."

Kroeger told MTV News that "Gotta Be Somebody" contains a universal theme that rings true with single people as well as those in a relationship who are questioning that "this may not be the one."

"[They will say] to themselves, 'There's got to be that perfect somebody for me out there.' And that's what the song is about," he said.

"Gotta Be Somebody" was released as the first single from Nickelback's sixth studio album, Dark Horse. The song reached #10 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and #4 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart. It was also an international hit, charting in 15 countries. The album was a huge commercial success, spending 125 consecutive weeks on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart. In all, the album sold more than five million copies worldwide.

Formed in Hanna, Alberta, Canada, in 1995, Nickelback is composed of guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan Peake, bassist Mike Kroeger, and drummer Daniel Adair. Nickelback is one of Canada's most successful musical groups, having sold more than 50 million albums worldwide.

Music legend states that Mike Kroeger's experience working for Starbucks provided the impetus for the band's unusual name. Apparently, some of the products at the popular chain cost $1.95 CAD, so when the customers handed over $2, he would make the change and say, "Here's your nickel back."

Please check out the video of Nickelback's live performance of "Gotta Be Somebody." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"Gotta Be Somebody"
Written by Chad Kroeger, Ryan Peake, Mike Kroeger and Daniel Adar. Performed by Nickelback.

This time I wonder what it feels like
To find the one in this life
The one we all dream of
But dreams just aren't enough
So I'll be waiting for the real thing
I'll know it by the feeling
The moment when we're meeting
Will play out like a scene straight off the silver screen
So I'll be holdin' my breath
Right up to the end
Until that moment when
I find the one that I'll spend forever with

'Cause nobody wants to be the last one there.
'Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares.
Someone to love with my life in their hands.
There's gotta be somebody for me like that.
'Cause nobody wants to go it on their own
And everyone wants to know they're not alone.
Somebody else that feels the same somewhere.
There's gotta be somebody for me out there.

Tonight, out on the street out in the moonlight
And damn it this feels too right
It's just like deja vu
Me standin' here with you
So I'll be holdin' my breath
Could this be the end?
Is it that moment when
I find the one that I'll spend forever with?

'Cause nobody wants to be the last one there.
'Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares.
Someone to love with my life in their hands.
There's gotta be somebody for me like that.
'Cause nobody wants to go it on their own
And everyone wants to know they're not alone.
Somebody else that feels the same somewhere.
There's gotta be somebody for me out there.

You can't give up
When you're lookin' for a diamond in the rough
Because you never know when it shows up
Make sure you're holdin' on
'Cause it could be the one, the one you're waiting on

'Cause nobody wants to be the last one there.
And everyone wants to feel like someone cares.
Someone to love with my life in their hands.
There's gotta be somebody for me.

Oh, nobody wants to go it on their own
And everyone wants to know they're not alone.
Somebody else that feels the same somewhere.
There's gotta be somebody for me out there.

Nobody wants to be the last one there
And everyone wants to feel like someone cares.
Somebody else that feels the same somewhere.
There's gotta be somebody for me out there.

Beleaguered actress Nicole Kidman finally revealed why she clapped like a seal at the 89th Academy Awards. It was all about the rings.

In the two weeks since the broadcast, social media has exploded with memes trying to explain Kidman's strange clapping behavior where she essentially slapped the bottom of her palms together while splaying her hands apart. Critics wondered why she had such a hard time bringing her unusually long hands together, sparking comparisons to a seal and The Grinch.

If Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway hadn't incorrectly named La La Land, instead of Moonlight, as the Best Picture winner, the lead story of the night would have been about Kidman's clapping disorder.

But this past Wednesday on the Australian "Kyle and Jackie O" radio show, the actress confirmed that the expensive jewelry she was wearing was to blame.

"It's because of the rings you idiots," Kyle told his radio audience. "That's why she's clapping like that. She doesn't want to damage the jewels!"

Kidman chimed in, "Yes, Yes! I'm so glad you clarified that because it was really awkward! I was like, 'Gosh, I want to clap. I don't want to not be clapping.' Which would be worse. Right? 'Why isn't Nicole clapping?'"

Specifically, Kidman was worried about the safety of a 13.58-carat pear-shaped diamond ring that had been lent to her by Harry Winston. It was part of a larger diamond ensemble that weighed in at 119 carats. Red carpet photos taken before the ceremony showed Kidman wearing two large rings, one on the index finger of her right hand and another on the ring finger of her left hand.

"So, therefore I'm clapping, but it was really difficult because I had a huge ring on that was not my own, but it was absolutely gorgeous, and I was terrified of damaging it!" she said.

Kidman was a little taken aback by the viral reaction to her clapping display.

"It's like, [are] there not more important things to be focused on than the seal clap?" she asked.

Kidman's role in Lion had earned her an Oscar nomination for Actress in a Supporting Role. The Oscar eventually went to Naomie Harris for her role in Moonlight.

The Jonker V diamond, one of 13 magnificent diamonds cleaved from the famous 726-carat Jonker rough more than 80 years ago, will go under the hammer on May 30 at Christie's Hong Kong. The 25.27-carat emerald-cut gem is expected to fetch upwards of $3.6 million.

On January 17, 1934, a rough diamond the size of a hen's egg was pulled from a bucket of gravel at the Elandsfontein claim, 4.8 kilometers south of the Premier Mine in South Africa. The massive 726-carat rough diamond with a frosty ice-white color would take on the surname of the 62-year-old digger who owned the claim. His name was Jacob Jonker.

At the time, the Jonker was the fourth-largest gem-quality rough diamond ever unearthed. Diamond experts speculated whether the 63.5mm-by-31.75mm Jonker and the 3,106-carat Cullinan Diamond had once been conjoined, as their respective cleaved faces seemed to match up perfectly. The Cullinan Diamond had been discovered at the nearby Premier Mine 19 years earlier.

The Jonker rough was acquired by De Beers chairman Sir Ernest Oppenheimer and subsequently caught the attention of diamond dealer Harry Winston, who purchased the stone in 1935 for £75,000, the equivalent of £9 million ($11 million) today. The Jonker rough diamond earned celebrity status when it was displayed during the Silver Jubilee Celebrations of the Coronation of King George V and Queen Mary in May of that same year.

The next year, Winston contracted Lazare Kaplan to cut 13 finished gems from the original rough. The Jonker finished diamonds were each named with a Roman numeral, in size order. The largest was the Jonker I at 142.90 carats and the smallest was the Jonker XIII at 3.53 carats. According to a May 1954 article in The New Yorker, Kaplan was paid $30,000 for his work.

Before cutting, the Jonker V rough weighed 54.19 carats, more than twice its finished weight. The beautiful emerald-cut gem boasts a D-color and a VVS2 clarity grading. Christie's posted a pre-sale estimate of $2.2 million to $3.6 million, but some industry experts are expecting the Jonker V to sell for much more.

Nine months ago, Australian landscape photographer Dale Sharpe planned to pop the question to his photographer girlfriend, Karlie Russell, under the Northern Lights in Iceland. Together, they had shot the colorful Aurora borealis more than 30 times, so Sharpe decided that the Lights would be the perfect backdrop for a surprise marriage proposal.

To maintain the element of surprise, Sharpe cleverly hid a $4,000 diamond engagement ring in a lotion bottle on their trip northward. While making a connecting flight from the Faroe Islands, the couple was forced to cut weight and Russell unknowingly discarded the lotion bottle and her engagement ring.

When Russell told her boyfriend that she offloaded the lotion bottle, he didn't let on that the ring was inside.

On Monday, March 6, Sharpe and Russell, partners at DK Photography on Australia's picturesque Gold Coast in Queensland, were back on the Arctic Circle, not in Iceland, but in the Lofoten Islands of Norway. Sharpe had saved up to purchase a new ring and the Aurora, it seemed, was ready to reward his persistence.

“It was the most amazing display of color in the Aurora that we’ve ever seen,” Sharpe told the Daily Mail Australia.

“I tricked Karlie into believing we were shooting a selfie & used a torch to light us up for the image," Sharpe noted on the DK Photography Facebook page. "Much to her shock, it wasn't any normal selfie, and much to my shock, she said yes!"

The resulting shot of Sharpe on bended knee popping the question to Russell is breathtaking, so much so that it has caught the attention of high-profile websites, such as Huffington Post, Daily Mail, ABC News and Brides.com.

Sharpe and Russell, who have been dating for seven years, have amassed a gorgeous portfolio. They share a strong passion for landscape, seascape and astrophotography. Their adventures have taken them throughout Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the USA, Asia and multiple sites along the Arctic Circle.

Their work — some of it bordering on the surreal — can be seen on Instagram, Facebook, and at their website. The couple has no immediate wedding plans.

Viall chose a ring with a classic round center diamond after considering princess-cut and cushion-cut options.

"It's a traditional ring with an old-fashioned feel," a jewelry-industry source told E! News. "It's got an old soul. It's classic and elegant. [Viall] chose it because that's what he thinks of her."

The 36-year-old Viall, a runner-up on Andi Dorfman and Kaitlyn Bristowe's seasons of The Bachelorette, as well as a fan-favorite on Bachelor in Paradise, took one more chance at finding true love during this season of The Bachelor. Viewers followed the entrepreneur's international journey, which culminated with him on bended knee, choosing Grimaldi over fan favorite, Raven Gates.

"So much about me being here has to do with the past," he told Grimaldi in the prelude to his proposal, "but when I look at you, all I see is my future."

"It's always exciting to work with these guys to select a ring for the love of their lives, but it was maybe even a little more gratifying this time given Nick's journey," noted designer Neil Lane in statement. "He was very thoughtful in selecting the perfect ring and that's obviously a reflection of the love he has for Vanessa."

Viall and special-education teacher Grimaldi, 29, were excited to share a series of post-engagement selfies on Instagram. He has 1.2 million followers and she has 752,000.

Despite its impressive specifications, Grimaldi's new engagement bling is slightly smaller than that of last season's Bachelorette, JoJo Fletcher. Fans may remember that former NFL player Aaron Rodgers proposed with a platinum ring highlighted by a 3.5-carat oval-cut center stone. The band was encrusted with diamond pavé for a total weight of 4.5 carats. That ring was valued at $85,000.

The two-hour season finale of The Bachelor was Monday's #1 most social program with 1.2 million interactions on Twitter and Facebook, according to Nielsen figures provided by ABC. The Bachelor has been drawing more than 7 million viewers each week and ratings were up 11% from last season among adults 18-49 and up 15% in adults 18-34.

Each engagement ring on The Bachelor contractually belongs to the show, according to Radar Online. If the engagement doesn't work out, the ring may be claimed by the show's producers.

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you awesome songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, platinum, silver and gold take center stage in Justin Bieber's 2012 hit, "As Long as You Love Me," a song about how true love conquers all.

The 23-year-old Canadian-born superstar uses three noble metals to illustrate the power of love.

He vows, "As long as you love me / We could be starving, we could be homeless, we could be broke / As long as you love me / I'll be your platinum, I'll be your silver, I'll be your gold / As long as you love, love me, love me."

One might wonder why an artist with a net worth estimated at $225 million would co-write a song referencing homelessness and going hungry, but Bieber did, in fact, endure a hardscrabble youth being raised by a single mom in low-income housing.

"As Long as You Love Me" is the third track of Bieber's third studio album, Believe. Both the single and the album were huge commercial successes, with "As Long as You Love Me" charting in 20 countries and Believe making its debut at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart.

Born in London, Ontario, Canada, in 1994, Justin Drew Bieber loved to perform as a kid. In early 2007, he placed second in a local singing competition. Bieber's mom, Pattie, posted a video of his performance on YouTube, and then added videos of her precocious son singing covers of various R&B songs. By sheer serendipity, a music executive happened upon one of them.

Music legend states that Scooter Braun accidentally clicked on one of Bieber's videos — thinking he was watching a 20-year-old doing a cover of Aretha Franklin's "Respect." The impressive performer was, in fact, the 12-year-old Bieber.

Braun tracked down the youngster in Canada, and with the permission of Bieber’s mom, introduced him to singer-songwriter Usher, who soon became his mentor. Bieber was then signed by record executive L.A. Reid and the rest is Bieber history.

Despite his young age, Bieber already has amassed an impressive list of accomplishments. He has sold an estimated 100 million records, making him the best-selling male Canadian artist and one of the world’s best-selling music artists.

He is the first artist to have seven songs from a debut album to chart on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, as well as the first artist to surpass 10 billion total video views on Vevo. He has nearly 78.1 million “likes” on Facebook, 92.4 million followers on Twitter and 80.7 million followers on Instagram.

We hope you enjoy the video of Bieber's acoustic version of "As Long As You Love Me." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"As Long As You Love Me"
Written by Nasri Atweh, Rodney Jerkins, Sean Anderson, Andre Lindal and Justin Bieber. Performed by Justin Bieber.

As long as you love me (love me, love me)
As long as you love me (love me, love me)
As long as you love me

I'm under pressure,
Seven billion people in the world trying to fit in
Keep it together,
Smile on your face even though your heart is frowning
But hey now, you know girl,
We both know it's a cruel world
But I will take my chances

As long as you love me
We could be starving, we could be homeless, we could be broke
As long as you love me
I'll be your platinum, I'll be your silver, I'll be your gold
As long as you love, love me, love me
As long as you love, love me, love me

I'll be your soldier, fighting every second of the day for your dreams girl
I'll be your Hova, you can be my Destiny's Child on a stinger
So don't stress, don't cry, we don't need no wings to fly
Just take my hand

As you love me we could be starving, we could be homeless, we could be broke
As long as you love me
I'll be your platinum, I'll be your silver, I'll be your gold
As long as you love, love me, love me
As long as you love, love me,

I don't know if this makes sense, but you're my hallelujah
Give me a time and place, and I'll rendezvous, and I'll fly you to it,
I'll beat ya there
Girl you know I got you
Us, trust
A couple of things I can't spell without you
Now we are on top of the world, 'cause that's just how we do
Used to tell me sky's the limit, now the sky's our point of view
Man now we stepping out like whoa (oh God)
Camera's point and shoot,
Ask me what's my best side, I stand back and point at you, you
You the one that I argue with, I feel like I need a new girl to be bothered,
But the grass ain't always greener on the other side,
It's green where you water it
So I know we got issues baby true true true
But I'd rather work on this with you
Than to go ahead and start with someone new
As long as you love me

As you love me we could be starving, we could be homeless, we could be broke
As long as you love me
I'll be your platinum, I'll be your silver, I'll be your gold
As long as you love, love me,
As long as you love, love me

As long as you love me
I'll be your silver, I'll be your gold
Love me,
As long as you love, love me,
As long as you love, (love me, love me)
As long as you love, (love me, love me)
As long as you love, (love me, love me)
As long as you love, (love me, love me)
As long as you love me

The origin story of Superman tells us that The Man of Steel was born Kal-El on the planet of Krypton and was sent to Earth as an infant by his scientist father, Jor-El, just before Krypton's destruction. On Saturday, March 11, 14-year-old Kalel Langford of Centerton, Ark., celebrated his connection with DC Comics' superhero by naming the 7.44-carat brown gem that he picked off the surface of the search field at Crater of Diamonds State Park "Superman's Diamond."

Superman's Diamond is the seventh-largest diamond found at the Murfreesboro, Ark., park since 1972. About the size of a pinto bean, the gem exhibits a dark brown coffee color and has a frosty appearance. Its shape has been compared to that of a pillow or a kite.

The teenager and his family, who live in the northern part of Arkansas near the Missouri border, made the 250-mile drive south to attend a baseball tournament, but extended their trip to fulfill the young Langford's dream of visiting the only diamond site in the world where amateur prospectors get to keep what they find.

Langford paid $10 to enter “The Pig Pen,” the 37 1/2-acre plowed field that is actually the eroded surface of the eighth-largest, diamond-bearing deposit in the world. Within 30 minutes, he had spotted the shiny brown gem just a few inches from a stream of water near the park's East Drain. The diamond was amidst other rocks that were about the same size, but Langford had a hunch that his stone was special.

He picked up the gem and called to his dad, Craig Langford, who was searching nearby.

“Its color was so dark that we weren’t sure if it was a diamond," said the dad, "but we knew we needed to have it looked at.”

Kalel and Craig Langford stopped by the Diamond Discovery Center to have their finds identified, and Kalel was shocked to learn he had found one of the biggest diamonds in the park’s history.

“Conditions were ideal for Kalel to find his diamond," noted Park Interpreter Waymon Cox. "About an inch of rain fell on the plowed search area during the week. A heavy rain can uncover larger diamonds near the surface. Diamonds have a metallic-looking shine and are often easier to spot on top of the ground.”

Kalel's parents didn't realize the connection to the infant Superman when they named their son. Nevertheless, the lucky teenager chose to honor the superhero by naming his gem Superman's Diamond. Kalel has no immediate plans to have the gem faceted and set into a piece of jewelry. For now, he plans to keep it as a souvenir.

Less than two years ago, Colorado resident Bobbie Oskarson found an 8.52-carat white diamond at the park. Her icicle-shaped gem, which she named "Esperanza," was expertly cut into a 4.64-carat D-flawless "triolette" diamond, which will be offered for sale at Skinner’s fine jewelry auction in Boston tomorrow, March 21. It is expected to fetch between $100,000 and $150,000.

So far this year, 97 diamonds weighing a total of 26.84 carats have been registered at Crater of Diamonds State Park. The three most common diamond colors found at the park are white, brown and yellow, in that order. In total, more than 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed at the Crater of Diamonds since the first diamonds were found there in 1906 by John Huddleston, a farmer who owned the land long before it became an Arkansas State Park in 1972.

All eyes will be on the stunning 59.60-carat “Pink Star” diamond when it returns to the big stage at Sotheby's Hong Kong on April 4. If all goes as planned, the largest internally flawless, fancy vivid pink diamond ever graded by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) will regain its title as the world's most valuable gem. The hammer price is expected to exceed $60 million.

Back in November of 2013, the same gem stunned the jewelry world when it fetched $83 million at Sotheby's Geneva. The winning bid had surpassed the pre-show estimate by $23 million. But, in February of 2014, Sotheby's announced that the sale was canceled. The auction house paid the guaranteed minimum of $60 million and took ownership of the gem. In 2016, the auction house reported that two firms — Diacore and Mellen Inc. — had purchased an interest in the remarkable Pink Star, with the third partner being Sotheby’s.

Diacore (formerly Steinmetz Diamond Group), incidentally, has an intimate connection to the Pink Star. It's the company responsible for taking the original 132.5-carat rough diamond and fashioning it into the flawless 59.60-carat masterpiece — a process that would take two years.

“I am delighted to be bringing this magnificent stone back to the market,” noted David Bennett, worldwide chairman of Sotheby’s jewelry division. “The extraordinary size of this 59.60-carat diamond, paired with its richness of color, surpasses any known pink diamond recorded in history.”

A monograph of the Pink Star authored by GIA waxed poetic, characterizing it as a “true masterpiece of nature, beyond characterization with human vocabulary."

Only one diamond in the world currently stands in the way of the Pink Star becoming the priciest gemstone ever sold at auction, and that is the 14.62-carat Oppenheimer Blue, an emerald-cut, VVS1, fancy vivid blue diamond, which sold at Christie's Geneva in May of 2016 for $57.5 million.

The Pink Star is more than twice the weight of the "Graff Pink," which currently holds the auction record for a pink diamond. The 24.78-carat, emerald-cut Graff Pink fetched $46.2 million at Sotheby's Geneva in 2010.

The per-carat auction record of $4.1 million is still held by the 12.03-carat Blue Moon of Josephine. That gem sold for $48.5 million at Sotheby’s Geneva in November of 2015.

The Merlin Diamond Mine in Australia's Northern Territory has yielded not one — but five — ultra-rare green diamonds, the largest of which weighs 1.42 carats. The discoveries are noteworthy because barely a handful of green diamonds are introduced to the market each year and the finest-quality ones can fetch upwards of $3 million per carat.

Mining company Merlin Diamonds Ltd. announced that the five diamonds — some described as intense green — were all discovered at the Kaye Pit, about 80km south of Borroloola near the Gulf of Carpentaria. Additional green gems were also pulled from the mine and were being validated as diamonds by independent gemological experts, according to the company.

The green diamond revelations are the latest in a string of good news for the mining operation. Merlin, which was already known for its high-quality, large, super-white gems, discovered a rare blue diamond in December and a 35.26-carat brown diamond in January. Australia's largest diamond, a 104.73-carat stone, also originated at the Merlin Diamond Mine, which was purchased from Rio Tinto in 2004.

When it comes to fancy-colored diamonds, the two rarest colors are red and green. Green diamonds owe their color to the natural radiation present during their formation inside the earth. Green diamonds can range from light mint green to vivid grass green. The value increases with the intensity of the color.

An excellent example of a fancy vivid green diamond is the 5.03-carat "Aurora Green," which sold for $16.82 million at Christie's Hong Kong in May of 2016. It is the most expensive green diamond ever sold at auction and the largest natural fancy, vivid green diamond known to exist.

Using only his bare hands and a sieve, pastor and part-time miner Emmanuel Momoh pulled a 706-carat diamond from the sediment of a river bed in Sierra Leone. About the size of a hockey puck, the diamond is the second-largest ever found in this western African nation and ranks as one of the top-10 largest rough diamonds ever recorded.

Momoh possessed a permit to mine for diamonds along the rivers of Kono in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone, according to CNN. Kono is the largest diamond-producing region in the country.

While diamonds are usually found within kimberlite pipes, over time, the pipes can be eroded by rivers and the diamonds will be washed down stream. It is extraordinarily rare to find an alluvial diamond that weighs hundreds of carats.

As is required by Sierra Leone law, Momoh handed his lucky find over to the government. He will be entitled to a portion of the final sale, which could tally into the millions of dollars. The Sierra Leone government is currently having the stone appraised and evaluated.

The Star of Sierra Leone, a 969.9-carat diamond discovered in 1972, was purchased by Harry Winston for $2.5 million. The rough diamond resulted in 17 individual finished gems, 13 of which were rated flawless. The largest finished stone of the group was a pear-shaped gem weighing 53.96 carats.

Just last year, "The Constellation," an 813-carat gem-quality rough diamond, was sold for a record-setting $63 million. Also in 2016, bidding for the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona reached $61 million, but failed to meet the reserve price at Sotheby's London.

Sierra Leone's president Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma praised pastor Momoh for his honesty. Miners with less integrity might have been tempted to smuggle the diamond out of the country. Instead, the government will supervise the sale of the stone and distribute the proceeds accordingly.

Said Koroma during a press conference, "I believe a diamond like this should be publicly sold in the country so we know the value of it."

The president wants to be transparent about who will buy the stone, what it will sell for and the amount that is due to the government. Apparently, some of the proceeds are already earmarked to fund development projects nationwide.

Welcome to Music Friday when we often bring you throwback songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today we zoom back to the summer of 1965 — a time of hippies, bell bottoms, flower power and a chart-topping duo named Sonny & Cher singing "I Got You Babe."

In this love song about a young couple willing to challenge societal norms, Cher famously tells Sonny, "So let them say your hair’s too long / ‘Cause I don’t care, with you I can’t go wrong." In the jewelry reference, Sonny sings, “I got flowers in the spring. I got you to wear my ring.”

Written by Sonny Bono, "I Got You Babe" was the duo's biggest single and signature song. It ascended to #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and charted in 18 countries, including Singapore, Switzerland and Zimbabwe.

Sonny revealed in a 1966 interview that the song was inspired by first-hand experiences.

"I know what it is like to be kicked around because you dress differently," Sonny told Musical Express. "I know what it is like to see the girl you love hurt because a hotel refuses you admission because of your dress. I know what it is like to have that one person stand by you. There are a lot of other people who have experienced these things and I'm trying to put our feelings into words for everyone."

Despite being named one of the greatest duets of all times by both Billboard and Rolling Stone magazines, "I Got You Babe" was nearly thrown on the scrap heap.

Apparently, Ahmet Ertegun, the head of Atco Records, didn't really care for the song, and was planning to relegate it to the "B" side of Sonny & Cher's single, "It's Gonna Rain.

Even Cher admitted that she was hardly enthusiastic when she sang it for the first time. Sonny agreed to change the key in the bridge to suit Cher's range and then she loved it.

Sonny was sure they had a hit, but Ertegun was still not convinced. Sonny pitched the song to the program director of Los Angeles radio station KHJ. He made a deal that allowed the station to have the song exclusively if they played it once an hour.

The station's listeners couldn't get enough of "I Got You Babe" and Ertegun finally agreed to publish it as the "A" side.

“I Got You Babe” had a key role in the 1993 movie, Groundhog Day, as Bill Murray, playing an arrogant TV weatherman, finds himself reliving February 2 in a perpetual time loop. Every morning at exactly six o’clock Murray wakes to the clock-radio playing the Sonny & Cher ditty.

Check out the video of Sonny & Cher performing “I Got You Babe.” The lyrics are below, but you probably already know the words. "They say we're young and we don't know…"

“I Got You Babe”
Written by Sonny Bono. Performed by Sonny & Cher.

[HER:] They say we’re young and we don’t know
We won’t find out until we grow
[HIM:] Well I don’t know if all that’s true
‘Cause you got me, and baby I got you

[HIM:] Babe
[BOTH:] I got you babe I got you babe

[HER:] They say our love won’t pay the rent
Before it’s earned, our money’s all been spent
[HIM:] I guess that’s so, we don’t have a pot
But at least I’m sure of all the things we got

[HIM:] Babe
[BOTH:] I got you babe I got you babe

[HIM:] I got flowers in the spring I got you to wear my ring
[HER:] And when I’m sad, you’re a clown
And if I get scared, you’re always around
[HER:] So let them say your hair’s too long
‘Cause I don’t care, with you I can’t go wrong
[HIM:] Then put your little hand in mine
There ain’t no hill or mountain we can’t climb

[HIM:] Babe
[BOTH:] I got you babe I got you babe

[HIM:] I got you to hold my hand
[HER:] I got you to understand
[HIM:] I got you to walk with me
[HER:] I got you to talk with me
[HIM:] I got you to kiss goodnight
[HER:] I got you to hold me tight
[HIM:] I got you, I won’t let go
[HER:] I got you to love me so

[BOTH:] I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe

Australia Post clarified that two of the gemstones — the golden sapphire and the pink diamond — represent stones that are cut and polished to be used in precious jewelry, while the rhodonite and fluorite are valued more often as "collector stones."

The 7-carat golden sapphire shown on the $1 stamp has been in the Australian Museum collection since 1984. The original rough stone was mined near Anakie, Queensland.

“The color is intense and the stone is quite large," gem specialist Gayle Sutherland said in an interview with Australia Post Collectables. "It’s a stunning stone. The cut has emphasized the depth of color, while ensuring the stone is lively and brilliant. This stone comes from an area in central Queensland that is renowned for its fine golden sapphires.”

One of the two $2 stamps honors Australia's role as the world's most prolific supplier of pink diamonds. The material comes primarily from the Argyle Mine in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia. It is believed that pink diamonds owe their color to the effects of intense pressure and heat while they were still deep within the earth. These factors caused distortions in the diamond’s crystal lattice that influence the way the diamond absorbs green light, thus reflecting a pink hue.

The rhodonite shown on the $1 stamp became part of the Australian Museum collection in 2002. Weighing more than two carats, the material from which it was cut came from Broken Hill, New South Wales.

"The rhodonite is remarkable for its rich red color combined with transparency," said Sutherland, who co-wrote a prestige booklet as part of the stamp issue. "Rhodonite is commonly a pink, opaque material suitable for carving. This stone is from... one of the few places in the world where rhodonite of such quality has been found. This material is now only available from old collections.”

Australia Post noted that the fluorite on the $2 stamp is a perfectly faceted stone weighing 147 carats. It was cut in 2001 from a rough gem that has been part of the Australian Museum collection since 1918. The material originated at Rumbsy's Mine in New England, New South Wales.

"The fluorite is a gemstone for collectors," added Sutherland. "Its beauty is fragile, and this stone needs particular care whenever handled and displayed."

The release of the gemstone stamps is perfectly timed to coincide with the dates of the Melbourne 2017 International Stamp Exhibition, which is scheduled to run from March 30 to April 2.

The four stamps were designed by Gary Domoney of Visua, a Melbourne-based visual communication and brand strategy agency.

With the assistance of New York City sanitation workers, a desperate couple waded through 800 disgusting trash bags to find two "priceless" platinum rings that had been accidentally thrown away.

"I felt really helpless," NYC apartment dweller Shannon Lombardo told WABC-TV. "It wasn't so much about the [value] of the rings. It was what they represented."

How the custom, vintage-style rings ended up in the trash is not an unusual story.

Lombardo, a mother of two, had cleaned the rings and left them to dry on a paper towel. One distraction later and they were on their way to city landfill.

"I think I got distracted with the kids," she said. "I think I just crumpled it up, and I didn't feel the weight of [the rings] and I threw them out."

When she realized her rings were missing — and probably in the trash — she immediately called 311, which is the city's non-emergency hotline.

A dispatcher connected Lombardo with the New York City Sanitation Department, which agreed to hold off the pickup at her Upper West Side apartment building until she could check the dumpster for her bags. When that effort proved fruitless, her next step was to visit a trash depot in nearby Fairway, N.J. — the last stop before the New York City waste is transported to landfills.

Decked out in protective gear and assisted by two sanitation workers, Lombardo and her husband of nearly nine years, James, immersed themselves in a yucky, smelly, unimaginably nasty mountain of trash bags. The bags had been dumped by the sanitation truck associated with serving their address.

James' strategy was to slit open random bags, looking for anything with an address on it. Within a half hour, he had found an address that matched his building.

With the search field narrowed, the couple soon found their trash bag. Nestled in a paper towel were Shannon's engagement ring and wedding band.

“Sure enough, there it was,” Shannon told the New York Daily News. “I was shocked. I just couldn’t believe that it really happened... Everyone was excited. I don’t know who was more excited.”

The recovered rings have taken on a new meaning in the lives of Shannon and James. They symbolize love overcoming seemingly unsurmountable circumstances. They also represent the generosity and kindness of strangers.

"It's pretty incredible what these guys do, not only the jobs they do on a daily basis, but the fact that they went above and beyond," Shannon told WABC-TV. "It's very humbling and I'm so grateful that the city has this department."

Added James, "We live in the greatest city in the world. It's truly amazing."

Sekou Callender, a sanitation worker who assisted in the search, offered the couple a little romantic advice: "I said that it's a great time for them to renew their vows."

Credits: Screen captures via abcnews.go.com. Photos via the New York Department of Sanitation.

In what has been labeled as a "true game-changer" for the colored-gemstone market, a Switzerland-based laboratory is using DNA-based nanoparticles to mark emeralds with an invisible imprint that will provide proof of their origin anywhere along the supply chain.

The particles, which are smaller than 100 nanometers in size, will be applied to rough emerald crystals at mining sites. The particles are so small that they can only be seen with an electron microscope. A human hair, by comparison, is 100,000 nanometers wide.

Gübelin Gem Lab explained that the particles will remain intact throughout the cleaning, cutting, polishing and setting processes. What's more, they will have no effect on the appearance or properties of the gemstones. For now, Gübelin will be focusing on emeralds because the particles are able to adhere to the natural fissures unique to the gemstone.

“This technology offers all stakeholders along the entire supply chain, from the miner to the final customers, proof of the exact source of emeralds, instilling confidence and creating trust,” said Daniel Nyfeler, Gübelin’s managing director. “It enables a new level of transparency for the gemstone trade.”

Gübelin is calling its ground-breaking traceable technology the "Emerald Paternity Test" due to the fact that each mine will have a unique DNA tag.

Partnering with Gübelin to test the nanotechnology is Gemfields, the London-based majority owner of Kagem, the world’s largest emerald mine in Zambia.

“Embracing innovation, technology and increased transparency is at the heart of our approach," noted Ian Harebottle, chief executive officer of Gemfields. "We were therefore thrilled to assist Gübelin in the testing of this new technology, and we are very excited about the outcome as it offers a multitude of benefits to the industry and the consumer.”

Measuring 20.8 inches in diameter, the coin was unveiled in 2007 as the world's largest. While the original remained in a high-security vault in Ottawa, five others were minted and sold to private interests. The Bode Museum had acquired its version of the Big Maple Leaf in 2010 and put it on display in a bulletproof glass box.

The obverse depicts the image of Queen Elizabeth II and the reverse features the image of Canada's national symbol, the maple leaf.

German police reported that the thieves used a ladder to enter the museum through a second-floor window in the back of the building, which lies along railroad tracks. Their target was on the first floor, so after smashing the case they had to manhandle the massive coin across the museum, up one flight of stairs and then out the second-floor window.

It's not clear whether the thieves climbed down with the coin or tossed it from the window. Authorities also believe the robbers used a wheelbarrow to transport the coin to the getaway vehicle. Authorities did not reveal whether any alarms were set off or if they have security video of the crime taking place.

The museum houses one of the most important numismatic collections in the world, totaling about 500,000 items, but no other coins or artifacts were touched during the robbery.

Big Maple Leaf was minted from .99999 fine gold and has a face value of 1 million Canadian dollars ($747,000). The actual worth is much higher based on today's gold price. The 100 kg of gold is equivalent to 220 pounds or 3,527 ounces. At $1,252 per ounce, the commodity value of the gold alone is $4.4 million.

An ex-Mountie told the Toronto Star that the massive one-inch-thick coin may already have been melted down.

Despite the seriousness of the crime, The Mississauga News couldn't resist delivering this clever quip on its Twitter page: "Good luck finding a vending machine that will take that sucker."

Welcome to Music Friday when we often bring you golden oldies with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, we climb into our Wayback Machine and transport ourselves 60 years into the past, where a 17-year-old Ray Stevens has just signed a deal with Capitol Records' subsidiary, Prep Records.

For his first single, the teenager releases "Silver Bracelet," which tells the story of a simple, yet significant, piece of jewelry that symbolizes his devotion to his new girlfriend. Penned by Stevens, the song is an adorable look at love from the young man's point of view.

He goes on to describe how he had his girlfriend's name engraved on the front and his on the back: "Turn it over there is mine / Forever let it shine."

Stevens wrote about the origin of "Silver Bracelet" on his official website. His family had moved to Atlanta in 1956, and while still in high school, Stevens (then Ray Ragsdale) got his first big break when he met radio personality and Georgia Tech football broadcaster, Bill Lowery.

"He was looking for talent to write songs," he wrote. "I went out to his house and I said, ‘My name is Ray Ragsdale and I’m going to learn to write songs for you.’ He said, ‘Okay lad, go to it.’"

Stevens continued, "I borrowed a little tape recorder from a friend. I got the key to the lunch room, which also served as the assembly hall, from the principal. The room had a very high ceiling and a piano on a little stage. I went there one Sunday by myself and made a demo of a song that I and a friend had written called, 'Silver Bracelet.' I took it to Bill and he liked it. He called Ken Nelson at Capitol Records, who was coming to Nashville a lot during those days to produce records. Ken liked the song and signed me to a contract with Prep Records.”

The success of "Silver Bracelet" helped launch a stellar career that has seen the artist release more than 40 studio albums and 93 singles. His two most popular tunes were "The Streak" (1974), a novelty song about streaking, and "Everything Is Beautiful," a 1971 Grammy winner for Song of the Year.

Born in Clarksdale, Ga., in 1939, Stevens started piano lessons at the age of six. His mom insisted he practice at least an hour each day. At 15, he sang and played piano in a band, the Barons, and they performed all over the area for the American Legion, the Elks and private parties.

Please check out this rare audio track of "Silver Bracelet." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"Silver Bracelet"
Written and performed by Ray Stevens.

A silver bracelet
My silver bracelet
This simple token I do give
A silver bracelet
My silver bracelet
To show my love will ever live

I had your name engraved on the front
In letters of my heart's design
Turn it over there is mine
Forever let it shine

Cherish this token
Though small it may be
May it always remind you of me
Let no other take my place
Let none my name erase

This tiny trinket is such a small part
Of the love I hold in my heart
Won't you say you love me too
No one else will ever do
Whoa, don't ever lose my bracelet
Silver bracelet

Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com.

About the Author

Murphey the Jeweler - founded on a dream and a prayer in 1850 - the original store is still located in Tyler at a new location. We think our history speaks volumes about our commitment to you. We've been recognized by the Texas Historical Commission since 1985.

This blog is dedicated to sharing our love for jewelry, gemstones and precious metals. Blogs postings are brand new every day, so come back often. Visit us at 5201 S. Broadway, Ste 140, Times Square Shopping Center, Tyler, TX
903-592-4711.